National Zoo officials announced Sunday that the newest baby female baby panda will be called Bao Bao.

The name means precious treasure.

Under Chinese tradition, baby giant pandas are named when they are 100 days old. Officials from the Smithsonian’s National Zoo and Cui Tiankai, the Chinese ambassador to the U.S., gathered at the Zoo’s panda house to reveal the name to excited panda fans who lined up in the cold for a chance to be at the naming ceremony.

Even as the dignitaries were announcing the name, little Bao Baoand her mother Mei Xiang, were inside the Zoo’s Panda House, cuddling on a rock formation and oblivious to the commotion outside. Read More »

Washingtonians have remained stoic, even dismissive of news that a government shutdown could halt garbage pickup, street cleaning, and pothole-repair come Tuesday. But when the National Zoo announced Monday that continued congressional impasse would shutter the zoo and its Panda Cam, fans’ sole window onto the zoo’s newborn cub, Zoo fans traveled the stages of grief, from rage to bargaining and grim acceptance.

“This just got real,” wrote several contributors to the zoo’s Twitter feed. Read More »

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